New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, eased 25 cents to $91.31 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for April delivery dipped 40 cents to $110.75.

“People are waiting for new economic data... in the United States,” said Tony Nunan, risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.

“Prices are likely to fall if the data is disappointing as the general market is weak,” he said.

US non-farm payrolls figures are due to be released later Friday, and strong numbers would signal further economic momentum after data released yesterday showed unemployment claims falling last week to 340,000.

On Wednesday, payrolls firm ADP had said the private sector piled on 198,000 jobs last month, better than the average of the past six months.

“Fewer firings and more hirings are bringing people back into the search for a job when they had previously been too discouraged to bother,” DBS bank said in a market commentary.

US President Barack Obama had ratcheted up his political charm offensive yesterday, welcoming Republican fiscal conservative Paul Ryan for lunch as he seeks a less painful way to cut spending after the $85-billion “sequester” kicked in last Friday.

The cuts to defence and domestic spending will likely cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, which could hamper recovery in the world’s biggest economy.

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The Budget proposes to monetise the estimated 20,000 tonnes of gold lying with Indian households. Banks will now be allowed to take gold and pay interest on its value. At the end of the deposit term...
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